Festival goers have backed increasing calls from experts to implement pill testing and address strip searching at NSW music festivals ahead of the state’s highly anticipated drug summit, claiming it could “reduce (the) risk of people dying”. Thousands of music fans descended upon the Knockout Outdoor music festival on Saturday, with more expected to head to Listen Out on Sunday as festival season kicks off. Many Knockout attendees, who wished to remain anonymous, echoed calls from experts to implement pill testing at NSW music festivals, with Victoria having committed to a trial over summer following the success of similar trials in ACT and Queensland.
A 25-year-old Knockout attendee said pill testing is “really important”, claiming people will bring drugs into festivals no matter what. “It should be essential,” he said. “People are going to bring (drugs) in no matter what .
.. there’s no point fighting it because at the end of the day it’s going to get in.
” A 25-year-old woman he attended the festival with agreed it’s an “amazing idea”, while another 25-year-old man backed calls to implement it. “Your safety is number one,” he said. “As long as you tell them ‘You won’t get in trouble if you have something on you .
.. I’m all for it.
” Another 25-year-old woman said while ideally people wouldn’t consume drugs in the first place, pill testing could help “ensure people are as safe as they possibly can be”. “You do hear of horror st.
